Chapter 24: The Human-Fruit Tree

Right now, a thousand meters away, countless eyes were witnessing the eerie and frenzied scene unfolding on the desiccated lakebed.

Three heavily armed warriors, without any visible support, floated into mid-air. Their bodies twisted unnaturally, as if compelled by an invisible Will, forcing them to turn stiffly, slowly, and irrevocably around. They even raised their guns, spraying dense bursts of bullets indiscriminately in all directions…

Yet, Lu Xin charged directly towards that hail of fire.

Despite running at breakneck speed, his body twisted and spun with bizarre agility. Mud splattered violently around his feet, yet somehow, against such a dense barrage, he dodged every single bullet, closing the distance to three meters before suddenly leaping up.

Under the Crimson Moon, he arched his back and crouched low, his form becoming a streaking afterimage as he shot skyward.

With that single bound, he neared one of the Investigation Team members.

The Investigation Team member hovered four or five meters off the ground—a height impossible for any ordinary person to reach. Yet Lu Xin leaped up, flawlessly navigating the gaps between bullets, and threw himself savagely onto the floating figure.

“Hiss…”

The indistinct, clearly distorted Shadow clinging to the investigator’s back snapped its head around to look at Lu Xin. Its mouth stretched impossibly wide, revealing a terrifying visage that chilled the scalp. But with a swipe of his hand, Lu Xin tore off half its face before clawing at its body.

“Ah…”

The Investigation Team member had braced for death, believing Lu Xin was attacking him.

Instead, he suddenly felt a lightness envelop him. The force binding him vanished instantly. Disoriented, an intense feeling of weightlessness seized him, and he plummeted downwards, limbs flailing helplessly.

As soon as the binding force on this man was severed, and before he could fall far, Lu Xin’s feet kicked hard against his body. Using the momentum, Lu Xin vaulted towards another investigator hovering nearly five meters away across the air, freeing him in the same instant. Immediately after, he executed the move once more, using the second investigator like a springboard to launch himself at the third person.

……

“What is he doing?”

Simultaneously, within a mysterious Tower in Qing Harbor Main City, Chen Jing, along with Han Bing, a member of the Information Analysis Team, watched the live feed transmitted from the cameras worn by the soldiers cordoning off Satellite City No. 2. Though the distance was great and the Crimson Moon cast dim, low light, they could still make out Lu Xin’s movements—spectral, bizarre, and utterly frenzied.

His agility and fluidity were ghostly… spectral. Charging headlong into bullets and a Psychic Entity signaled pure madness.

“He is dangerous…” Blurted Han Bing, though countless other thoughts tangled in her mind. As members of the Information Analysis Team, they had access to vast amounts of data concerning Spiritual Contamination. To some extent, they were quasi-experts, capable of giving specialized advice during contamination cleanups.

In her expert view, every single thing Lu Xin was doing screamed recklessness.

Contamination Source No. 41 in Satellite City No. 2 still lacked specific data points. Immediate analysis, however, indicated the source possessed immense Psychic Magnitude: one Psychic Shock had extinguished most lights in the vicinity and repelled both Lu Xin and the three armed personnel. Its ability to instantly hoist three armed personnel into the air also pointed to an incredibly potent infection capability, allowing near-instantaneous spread of its Contamination.

Under such circumstances, the most correct course was immediately withdrawing all personnel and ordering artillery bombardment. Even the three Investigation Team members—normally written off once ensnared by such a powerful Contamination source—seemed beyond saving. Yet Lu Xin had charged straight in. Was he not afraid of dying from the bullets? Spider-Type Ability Users indeed had documented capabilities to potentially evade bullets in controlled Experiments, but a direct hit was fatal!

However, after Lu Xin acted, they witnessed him vaulting through the air in three swift bounds. He somehow freed the three investigators who, moments before, appeared crazed and had been firing upon their comrades. The method was unclear. What was far more astonishing was that the trio, upon hitting the ground, scrambled to their feet surprisingly quickly and immediately began retreating. Their movements were coordinated and disciplined, indicating they had likely not been infected…

“He…” Han Bing’s mouth hung open despite herself.

Chen Jing, phone in hand ready to issue an order, paused mid-movement, a mix of shock and elation on her face. Quickly composing herself, she started the command: “Quickly, order the Investigation Team members to fall back instantly…”

But her words faltered as her gaze locked onto Lu Xin’s blurred form on the screen, her eyes widening further.

……

“Now it’s your turn…”

After rescuing the three Investigation Team members, Lu Xin didn’t retreat with them.

Instead, he pressed forward relentlessly, heading further inward.

His target was the central puddle of water in the lakebed.

Earlier, when the three armed personnel were lifted, he had glimpsed the cause. To others, the investigators floating seemed victims, utterly devoid of consciousness. But Lu Xin had seen the truth: indistinct Shadows clung to their backs, lifting them. These Shadows forcibly manipulated their limbs, wrenched them around, and tightened their fingers on the triggers. That’s why the Captain, amidst firing, had managed that muffled, desperate shout: “Duck!”

That is precisely how Lu Xin confirmed they were merely “controlled,” not “infected.” Hence, with Little Sister’s assistance, he dodged the gunfire, leaped into the air, and tore the Shadows wrapped around them. The Shadows were bizarre but strangely insubstantial, tearing apart like wet paper. Perhaps Little Sister was naturally adept; tearing things was somewhat her specialty.

But even after the rescue, he couldn’t withdraw.

Little Sister demanded it. Her eyes gleamed now, locked onto the central puddle as she urged him directly towards it.

“Glug… glug…”

Lu Xin moved incredibly fast. The seven or eight meters to the central puddle vanished in an instant. Yet, just as he was about to reach the Doll at its center, the mud around it began bubbling violently. Plumes of sludge surged upwards.

Then, abruptly, a black Shadow erupted from the muck. It ballooned outwards instantly. Twisted branches, thick as Vines, lashed in every direction. Hundreds of wriggling, Tendril-like appendages stretched forth with frenzied intensity, reaching to entwine anything nearby.

At that moment, Lu Xin’s pupils contracted sharply. He looked up.

It was a tree. A tree covered in writhing Vines. And from the ends of those Vines, dark, bulbous fruit dangled. Only they weren’t fruit. They were innumerable human figures—distorted, dangling “people.”

These human shapes detached instantly from the branches and cascaded downwards from the air above, limbs and torsos splayed wide as if seeking to envelop Lu Xin in a grotesque, suffocating embrace.